King John Lackland King John Lackland Location of death: Newark, Lincolnshire, England Cause of death: Illness Remains: Buried, Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, England Gender: Male Nationality: England Executive summary: Signed the Magna Carta, then reneged John Lackland, King of England, the youngest son of King Henry II by Eleanor of Aquitaine , was born at Oxford on the 24th of December 1167. He was given at an early age the nickname of Lackland because, unlike his elder brothers, he received no land rights in the continental provinces. But his future was subject of anxious thought to Henry II. When only five years old John was betrothed (1173) to the heiress of Maurienne and Savoy, a principality which, as dominating the chief routes from France and Burgundy to Italy, enjoyed a consequence out of all proportion to its area.

Later, when this plan had fallen through he was endowed with castles, revenues and lands on both sides of the channel; the vacant earldom of Cornwall was reserved for him (1175); he was betrothed to Isabella the heiress of the earldom of Gloucester (1176); and he was granted the lordship of Ireland with the homage of the Anglo-Irish baronage (1177). Henry II even provoked a civil war by attempting to transfer he duchy of Aquitaine from the hands of his brother Richard the Lionheart to those of John (1183). In spite of the incapacity which he displayed in this war, John was sent a little later to govern Ireland (1185); but he returned in a few months covered with disgrace, having alienated the loyal chiefs by his childish insolence and entirely failed to defend the settlers from the hostile clans. Remaining henceforth at his father's side he was treated with he utmost indulgence. But he joined with his brother Richard and the French king Philip Augustus in the great conspiracy of 1189, and the discovery of his treason broke the heart of the old king.

Richard on his accession confirmed John's existing possessions; married him to Isabella of Gloucester; and gave him, besides other grants, the entire revenues of six English shires; but excluded him from any share in the regency which was appointed to govern England during the third crusade; and only allowed him to live in the kingdom because urged to this concession by their mother. Soon after the king's departure for the Holy Land it became known that he had designated his nephew, the young Arthur of Brittany, as his successor. John at once began to intrigue against the regents with the aim of securing England for himself. He picked a quarrel with the unpopular chancellor William Longchamp, and succeeded, by the help of the barons and the Londoners, in expelling this minister, whose chief fault was that of fidelity to the absent Richard. Not being permitted to succeed Longchamp as the head of the administration, John next turned to Philip Augustus for help. A bargain was struck; and when Richard was captured by Leopold, duke of Austria (December 1192), the allies endeavored to prevent his release, and planned a partition of his dominions.

They were, however, unable to win either English or Norman support and their schemes collapsed with Richard's return (March 1194). He magnanimously pardoned his brother, and they lived on not unfriendly terms for the next five years. On his deathbed Richard, reversing his former arrangements, caused his barons to swear fealty to John (1199), although the hereditary claim of Arthur was by the law of primogeniture undoubtedly superior. England and Normandy, after some hesitation, recognized John's title; the attempt of Anjou and Brittany to assert the rights of Arthur ended disastrously by the capture of the young prince at Mirebeau in Poitou (1202). But there was no part of his dominions in which John inspired personal devotion. Originally accepted as a political necessity, he soon came to be detested by the people as a tyrant and despised by the nobles for his cowardice and sloth. He inherited great difficulties -- the feud with France, the dissensions of the continental provinces, the growing indifference of England to foreign conquests, the discontent of all his subjects with a strict executive and severe taxation.

But he cannot be acquitted of personal responsibility for his misfortunes. Astute in small matters, he had no breadth of view or foresight; his policy was continually warped by his passions or caprices; he flaunted vices of the most sordid kind with a cynical indifference to public opinion, and shocked an age which was far from tenderhearted by his ferocity to vanquished enemies. He treated his most respectable supporters with base ingratitude, reserved his favor for unscrupulous adventurers, and gave a free rein to the license of his mercenaries. While possessing considerable gifts of mind and a latent fund of energy, he seldom acted or reflected until the favorable moment had passed. Each of his great humiliations followed as the natural result of crimes or blunders. By his divorce from Isabella of Gloucester he offended the English baronage (1200); by his marriage with Isabella of Angoul�me, the betrothed of Hugh of Lusignan, he gave an opportunity to the discontented Poitevins for invoking French assistance and to Philip Augustus for pronouncing against him a sentence of forfeiture.

The murder of Arthur (1203) ruined his cause in Normandy and Anjou; the story that the court of the peers of France condemned him for the murder is a fable, but no legal process was needed to convince men of his guilt. In the later quarrel with Pope Innocent III (1207-13) he prejudiced his case by proposing a worthless favorite for the primacy and by plundering those of the clergy who bowed to the pope's sentences. Threatened with the desertion of his barons he drove all whom he suspected to desperation by his terrible severity towards the Braose family (1210); and by his continued misgovernment irrevocably estranged the lower classes. When submission to Rome had somewhat improved his position he squandered his last resources in a new and unsuccessful war with France (1214), and enraged the feudal classes by new claims for military service and scutages. The barons were consequently able to exact, in Magna Carta (June 1215), much more than the redress of legitimate grievances; and the people allowed the crown to be placed under the control of an oligarchical committee.

When once the sovereign power had been thus divided, the natural consequence was civil war and the intervention of the French king, who had long watched for some such opportunity. John's struggle against the barons and Prince Louis (1216), afterwards King Louis VIII , was the most creditable episode of his career. But the calamitous situation of England at the moment of his death, on the 19th of October 1216, was in the main his work; and while he lived a national reaction in favor of the dynasty was out of the question. King John I "Lackland" Plantagenet of England King John I "Lackland" Plantagenet of England John, known as Lackland, was born on December 24th, 1166 in Kings Manor House, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England . Lackland's father was King Henry II ("Curt Mantel") of England and his mother was Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine .

His paternal grandparents were Geoffrey (the Fair) Plantagenet V, Comte d'Anjou and Matilda ("the Empress") ; his maternal grandparents were Guillaume X, Duc d'Aquitaine and Eleanor Chastellerault de Rochefoucauld . He had a brother named Cour de Lion . He was the younger of the two children. He had a half-brother and a half-sister, named William and Marie . He died at the age of 49 on October 18th, 1216 in England . He was buried about October 20th, 1216 in Worcester, England . General Notes "Too late to be known as John the first, he's sure to be known as John the worst." John remarried, on 24 August 1200, Isabella of Angoulême, who was twenty years his junior. She was the daughter of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angouleme. John had kidnapped her from her fiancé, Hugh X of Lusignan.

John and Magna Carta John (reigned 1199-1216) was an able administrator interested in law and government but he neither trusted others nor was trusted by them. Heavy taxation, disputes with the Church (John was excommunicated by the Pope in 1209) and unsuccessful attempts to recover his French possessions made him unpopular. Many of his barons rebelled and in June 1215 they forced the King to sign a peace treaty accepting their reforms. This treaty, later known as Magna Carta, limited royal powers, defined feudal obligations between the King and the barons, and guaranteed a number of rights. The most influential clauses concerned the freedom of the Church; the redress of grievances of owners and tenants of land; the need to consult the Great Council of the Realm so as to prevent unjust taxation; mercantile and trading relationships; regulation of the machinery of justice so that justice be denied to no one; and the requirement to control the behaviour of royal officials. The most important clauses established the basis of habeas corpus ('you have the body'), i.e.

that no one shall be imprisoned except by due process of law, and that 'to no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice'. The Charter also established a council of barons who were to ensure that the Sovereign observed the Charter, with the right to wage war on him if he did not. Magna Carta was the first formal document insisting that the Sovereign was as much under the rule of law as his people; and that the rights of individuals were to be upheld even against the wishes of the sovereign. As a source of fundamental constitutional principles, Magna Carta came to be seen as an important definition of aspects of English law, and in later centuries as the basis of the liberties of the English people. As a peace treaty Magna Carta was a failure and the rebels invited Louis of France to become their king. When John died in 1216 England was in the grip of civil war. Child of John I 'Lackland', King of England and Clementina * Joan b. b 1195, d.

1237 Children of John I 'Lackland', King of England and Isabella d'Angoulême * Henry III, King of England+ b. 1 Oct 1207, d. 16 Nov 1272 * Richard of Cornwall, Earl of Cornwall+ b. 5 Jan 1209, d. 2 Apr 1272 * Joan of England b. 22 Jul 1210, d. 4 Mar 1238 * Isabella of England+ b. 1214, d. 1 Dec 1241 * Eleanor of England+ b. 1215, d. 13 Apr 1275 Child of John I 'Lackland', King of England and unknown de Warenne * Richard Fitzroy, Baron of Chilham+ b. b 1216, d. fr 1245 - 1246 Children of John I 'Lackland', King of England and Hawise de Tracy * Oliver d. 1290 * Odo FitzRoy d. c 1242 * Ivo * Matilda of Barking b.

b 1216 Occupation Details Lackland's occupation was 15th Duke Normany. Occupation Notes *There are earlier generations for the ancestor(s) indicated.

See their page(s) for details (click name) Individual Additional Information King John | Britroyals Britroyals Born: December 24, 1166 at Beaumont Palace : Oxford Parents: Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine Relation to Elizabeth II: 21st great-grandfather House of: Angevin Ascended to the throne: April 6, 1199 aged 32 years Crowned: May 27, 1199 at Westminster Abbey Married: 1) Isabella of Gloucester, (annulled 1199), (2) Isabella, Daughter of Count of Angouleme Children: Two sons including Henry III, three daughters and several illegitimate children Died: October 18, 1216 at Newark Castle, aged 49 years, 9 months, and 24 days Buried at: Worcester Reigned for: 17 years, 6 months, and 13 days Succeeded by: his son Henry III John was nicknamed Lackland, probably because, as the youngest of Henry II's five sons, it was difficult to find a portion of his father's French possessions for him to inherit.

He was acting king from 1189 during his brother Richard the Lion-Heart's absence on the Third Crusade. The legend of Robin Hood dates from this time in which John is portrayed as Bad King John. He was involved in intrigues against his absent brother, but became king in 1199 when Richard was killed in battle in France. Most of his reign was dominated by war with France. Following the peace treaty of Le Goulet there was a brief peace, but fighting resumed again in 1202. John had lost Normandy and almost all the other English possessions in France to Philip II of France by 1204. He spent the next decade trying to regain these without success and was finally defeated by Philip Augustus at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. He was also in conflict with the Church. In 1205 he disputed the pope's choice of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Innocent III placed England under an interdict, suspending all religious services, including baptisms, marriages, and burials. John retaliated by seizing church revenues, and in 1209 was excommunicated.

Eventually, John submitted, accepting the papal nominee, and agreed to hold the kingdom as a fief of the papacy; an annual monetary tribute was paid to the popes for the next 150 years by successive English monarchs. His repressive policies and ruthless taxation to fund the warin France brought him into conflict with his barons which became known as the Barons War. In 1215 rebel baron leaders marched on London where they were welcomed by an increasing band of defectors from John�s royalist supporters. Their demands were drawn up in a document which became the known as the Magna Carta. John sort peace and met them at Runnymede where on 15th June 1215 he agreed to their demands and sealed the Magna Carta. It was a remarkable document which set limits on the powers of the king, laid out the feudal obligations of the barons, confirmed the liberties of the Church, and granted rights to all freemen of the realm and their heirs for ever. It was the first written constitution. Read and view the Magna Carta . His concessions did not buy peace for long and the Barons War continued.

The barons sought French aid and Prince Louis of France landed in England supported by attacks from the North by Alexander II of Scotland. John fled and according to legend lost most of his baggage and the crown jewels when crossing the tidal estuaries of the Wash. He became ill with dysentery and died at Newark Castle in October 1216. Quotes: No free man shall be taken or imprisioned .. except by lawful judgement of his peers ..' - Magna Carta, Clause 39, 1215 Timeline for King John The genealogical tree of John "Lackland" King of England John "Lackland" King of England Born: 24 Dec 1166, Kings Manor House, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England Married 26 Aug 1200, Bordeaux, Gironde, France, to Agatha Ferrers Died: 19 Oct 1216, Newark, Nottinghamshire, England Image of King John by Renold Elstrack [The Royal Collection - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II ] Buried Cathedral, Worcester, Worcestershire, England King John - JOHN OF ENGLAND (1167-1216).

Vicious, shameless, and ungrateful, King John has been called the worst king ever to rule England. Yet the very excesses of his reign proved positive in that they provoked such a violent reaction that his subjects revolted and forced him to put his seal on the Magna Carta. This document became the safeguard of English liberty. John's nickname was Lackland because at first he owned no land. Later his father, King Henry II, gave him castles, lands, and revenues in both England and France. John plotted against his father, however, and the discovery of this conspiracy was a factor in the king's death. John's brother, Richard the Lion-Hearted, became king and added to John's possessions. While Richard was absent from England on the Third Crusade, John conspired against him also. When Richard died in 1199, the barons selected John to be their king. This denied the royal claim of Arthur, son of another brother, Geoffrey. Two French provinces fought for young Arthur, but the boy fell into the hands of John and died soon after. During the war John lost all his French possessions except Aquitaine.

John then quarreled with Pope Innocent III about the appointment of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury. John was excommunicated, and England was forbidden all religious services except baptism and extreme unction. The growing discontent of his subjects finally forced John to recognize the new archbishop. When John went to France seeking to regain his lands in Normandy, the barons marched against the king and demanded a charter of liberties. All but a handful of followers deserted John. He was forced to meet the barons at Runnymede on June 15, 1215, and to sign the Great Charter. John had no intention of supporting the charter, however. He recruited a new army and destroyed the estates of the barons. The barons then offered the English crown to Louis, a French prince. In the midst of a war for the throne, John died of a fever. The task of restoring the torn kingdom fell to his nine-year-old son, Henry III. John was on the list of those who had plotted against his father, Henry I, but was not successful in plotting against his brother, Richard. Richard gave him lands in Normandy and England, but these were not enough.

While Richard was imprisoned, John unsuccessfully rebelled several times. Upon Richard's return, he was reprimanded and kept out of trouble for the last five years of his brother's reign and earned the succession to the throne. John was respected as successor in England, but in Anjou, Maine, and Touraine Arthur, son of Geoffrey of Brittany, was recognized as sovereign. John persuaded Philip II to oust the twelve-year-old Arthur and became Lord of the Angevin Empire. He then annulled his marriage to Isabella of Gloucester, whom Richard had betrothed to him, and, in an effort to unite the two halves of his empire, married Isabella of Angouleme. Unfortunately, John's bride's former fiance appealed to Philip II, and Philip declared all of John's recent acquisitions forfeit. John captured Arthur shortly after his possessions were forfeited. Arthur disappeared and the murder has never been proven. Determined to get his territory back, John levied high taxes on his nobles. This also came at the time of a conflict with Pope Innocent III. John refused to accept the papal appointment to the position of Archbishop of Canterbury.

The pope punished John by placing England and Wales under an interdict and excommunicating John a year later John, however, needed papal support to win his invasion of France. John made England a papal fief and invaded. In 1214, John lost the Battle of Bovines and the English barons had enough. In 1215, the barons seized London and forced John to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymead. John had no intention of living up to the document, and the barons looked to Louis of France, Philip's son, for aid. Louis invaded England in 1216. John died that year in October with a nine-year old son as his successor. John (reigned 1199-1216) was an able administrator interested in law and government but he neither trusted others nor was trusted by them. Heavy taxation, disputes with the Church (John was excommunicated by the Pope in 1209) and unsuccessful attempts to recover his French possessions made him unpopular. Many of his barons rebelled and in June 1215 they forced the King to sign a peace treaty accepting their reforms.

This treaty, later known as Magna Carta, limited royal powers, defined feudal obligations between the King and the barons, and guaranteed a number of rights. The most influential clauses concerned the freedom of the Church; the redress of grievances of owners and tenants of land; the need to consult the Great Council of the Realm so as to prevent unjust taxation; mercantile and trading relationships; regulation of the machinery of justice so that justice be denied to no one; and the requirement to control the behavior of royal officials. The most important clauses established the basis of habeas corpus ('you have the body'), i.e. that no one shall be imprisoned except by due process of law, and that 'to no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice'. The Charter also established a council of barons who were to ensure that the Sovereign observed the Charter, with the right to wage war on him if he did not. Magna Carta was the first formal document insisting that the Sovereign was as much under the rule of law as his people, and that the rights of individuals were to be upheld even against the wishes of the sovereign.

As a source of fundamental constitutional principles, Magna Carta came to be seen as an important definition of aspects of English law, and in later centuries as the basis of the liberties of the English people. A peace treaty Magna Carta was a failure and the rebels invited Louis of France to become their king. When John died in 1216 England was in the grip of civil war. King John of England King John of England Alphabetical Index for Who's Who: J King John of England 17th-century portrait of King John of England by an unknown artist of the British School. Public domain; courtesy of Wikimedia This profile of King John is part of Who's Who in Medieval History King John was known as: John Lackland; in French, Jean sans Terre. John also held the title of Count of Mortain. King John was noted for: His reputation as a bad king. John was forced to accept the Magna Carta and lost most of England's possessions in France. Occupation and Role in Society: Died: Oct. 18 (or 19), 1216 About King John: King John was the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine , and the younger brother of Richard I .

John's life was characterized by tumultuous relationships. Though favored by his father, he allied with his brother Richard to rebel against him. He also allied with Philip II in order to fight against Richard, and later warred against the French king, as well. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance He was disliked and mistrusted by many of the English barons, and he was even excommunicated by the pope for a time. John was considered a bad king during his lifetime and for long after, especially by those who found it easy to compare him unfavorably with his popular brother. Although he did make advances in military organization, taxation, and in the administration of justice, his misdeeds overshadow his achievements, and attempts to rehabilitate his reputation have largely failed. For more about John's life and reign, visit the concise biography by your Guide.

King John Resources: John | king of England | Britannica.com king of England Alternative Titles: Jean Sans Terre, John Lackland John Orderic Vitalis John, byname John Lackland, French Jean Sans Terre (born December 24, 1167, Oxford, England—died October 18/19, 1216, Newark, Nottinghamshire, England), king of England from 1199 to 1216. In a war with the French king Philip II, he lost Normandy and almost all his other possessions in France. In England, after a revolt of the barons, he was forced to seal the Magna Carta (1215). John of England, from an early 14th-century illumination. The Granger Collection, New York Youth and rivalry for the crown John was the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Henry’s plan (1173) to assign to John, his favourite son (whom he had nicknamed Lackland), extensive lands upon his marriage with the daughter of Humbert III, count of Maurienne (Savoy), was defeated by the rebellion the proposal provoked among John’s elder brothers.

Various provisions were made for him in England (1174–76), including the succession to the earldom of Gloucester. He was also granted the lordship of Ireland (1177), which he visited from April to late 1185, committing youthful political indiscretions from which he acquired a reputation for reckless irresponsibility. Henry’s continued favour to him contributed to the rebellion of his eldest surviving son, Richard I (later called Coeur de Lion), in June 1189. For obscure reasons John deserted Henry for Richard. United Kingdom: John (1199–1216) On Richard’s accession in July 1189, John was made count of Mortain (a title that became his usual style), was confirmed as lord of Ireland, was granted lands and revenues in England worth £6,000 a year, and was married to Isabella , heiress to the earldom of Gloucester. He also had to promise (March 1190) not to enter England during Richard’s absence on his crusade.

But John’s actions were now dominated by the problem of the succession, in which his nephew, the three-year-old Arthur I , duke of Brittany, the son of his deceased elder brother Geoffrey, was his only serious rival. When Richard recognized Arthur as his heir (October 1190), John immediately broke his oath and returned to England, where he led the opposition to Richard’s dictatorial chancellor, William Longchamp . On receiving the news in January 1193 that Richard, on his way back from the crusade, had been imprisoned in Germany, John allied himself with King Philip II Augustus of France and attempted unsuccessfully to seize control of England. In April 1193 he was forced to accept a truce but made further arrangements with Philip for the division of Richard’s possessions and for rebellion in England. On Richard’s return, early in 1194, John was banished and deprived of all his lands. He was reconciled to Richard in May and recovered some of his estates, including Mortain and Ireland, in 1195, but his full rehabilitation came only after the Bretons had surrendered Arthur to Philip II in 1196. This led Richard to recognize John as his heir.

Accession to the throne Cheetahs Face Extinction Risk In 1199 the doctrine of representative succession, which would have given the throne to Arthur, was not yet generally accepted, and following Richard’s death in April 1199 John was invested as duke of Normandy and in May crowned king of England. Arthur, backed by Philip II, was recognized as Richard’s successor in Anjou and Maine, and it was only a year later, in the Treaty of Le Goulet , that John was recognized as successor in all Richard’s French possessions, in return for financial and territorial concessions to Philip. John of England. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Rosenwald Collection, 1980.45.28 War with France The renewal of war in France was triggered by John’s second marriage. His first wife, Isabella of Gloucester, was never crowned, and in 1199 the marriage was dissolved on grounds of consanguinity, both parties being great-grandchildren of Henry I.

John then intervened in the stormy politics of his county of Poitou and, while trying to settle the differences between the rival families of Lusignan and Angoulême, himself married Isabella (August 1200), the heiress to Angoulême, who had been betrothed to Hugh IX de Lusignan. This politically conceived marriage provoked the Lusignans into rebellion the next year; they appealed to Philip II, who summoned John to appear before his court. In the general war that followed his failure to answer this summons, John had a temporary success at Mirebeau in August 1202, when Arthur of Brittany was captured, but Normandy was quickly lost (1204). By 1206, Anjou, Maine, and parts of Poitou had also gone over to King Philip. Exploring Italy and France: Fact or Fiction? These failures, foreshadowed under Henry II and Richard, were brought about by the superiority of French resources and the increasing strain on those of England and Normandy. Nevertheless, they were a damaging blow to John’s prestige, and, equally important, they meant that John resided now almost permanently in England.

This factor, coinciding with the death (1205) of the chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter, gave his government a much more personal stamp, which was accentuated by the promotion of members of his household to important office. His determination to reverse the continental failure bore fruit in ruthlessly efficient financial administration, marked by taxation on revenues, investigations into the royal forests, taxation of the Jews, a great inquiry into feudal tenures, and the increasingly severe exploitation of his feudal prerogatives. These measures provided the material basis for the charges of tyranny later brought against him. Quarrel with the church Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies John’s attention was diverted and his prestige disastrously affected by relations with the papacy . In the disputed election to the see of Canterbury following the death of Hubert Walter, Pope Innocent III quashed the election of John’s nominee in procuring the election of Stephen Langton (December 1206). John, taking his ground on the traditional rights of the English crown in episcopal elections, refused to accept Langton. In March 1208, Innocent laid an interdict on England and excommunicated John (November 1209).

The quarrel continued until 1213, by which time John had amassed more than £100,000 from the revenues of vacant or appropriated sees and abbeys. But such a dispute was a dangerous hindrance to John’s intention to recover his continental lands. In November 1212 he agreed to accept Langton and the pope’s terms. Apparently at his own behest, he surrendered his kingdom to the papal nuncio at Ewell, near Dover, on May 15, 1213, receiving it back as a vassal rendering a tribute of 1,000 marks (666 pounds 13 shillings 4 pence) a year. He was absolved from excommunication by Langton in July 1213, and the interdict was finally relaxed a year later. John thus succeeded in his aim to secure the papacy as a firm ally in the fight with Philip and in the struggle already pending with his own baronage.

But his treatment of the church during the interdict, although arousing little if any opposition among the laity at the time, angered monastic chroniclers, who henceforth loaded him with charges of tyranny, cruelty, and, with less reason, of sacrilege and irreligion. Baronial rebellion and the Magna Carta Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest In August 1212 recurrent baronial discontent had come to a head in an unsuccessful plot to murder or desert John during a campaign planned against the Welsh. Pope Innocent’s terms had included the restoration of two of those involved, Eustace de Vesci and Robert Fitzwalter, and, although the barons soon lost papal support, they retained the protection of Stephen Langton. John, skillfully isolating the malcontents, was able to launch his long-planned campaign against the French, landing at La Rochelle in February 1214. He achieved nothing decisive and was forced to accept a truce lasting until 1220. Returning to England in October 1214, he now had to face much more widespread discontent, centred mainly on the northern, East Anglian, and home counties.

After lengthy negotiations in which both sides appealed to the pope, civil war broke out in May 1215. John was compelled to negotiate once more when London went over to the rebels in May, and on June 15 at Runnymede he accepted the baronial terms embodied in a document known as the Articles of the Barons . On June 19, after further revisions of the document, the king and the barons accepted the Magna Carta , which ensured feudal rights and restated English law. This settlement was soon rendered unworkable by the more intransigent barons and John’s almost immediate appeal to Pope Innocent against it. Innocent took the king’s side, and in the ensuing civil war John captured Rochester castle and laid waste the northern counties and the Scottish border. But his cause was weakened by the arrival of Prince Louis (later Louis VIII ) of France, who invaded England at the barons’ request. John continued to wage war vigorously but died, leaving the issues undecided. His death made possible a compromise peace, including the restoration of the rebels, the succession of his son Henry III, and the withdrawal of Louis.

King John signing Magna Carta on June 15, 1215, at Runnymede, England. © Photos.com/Thinkstock Watch a dramatization of the history behind the formulation of the Magna Carta, a charter that was … © UK Parliament Education Service (A Britannica Publishing Partner) Assessment Opium Wars John’s reputation, bad at his death, was further depressed by writers of the next generation. Of all centuries prior to the present, only the 16th, mindful of his quarrel with Rome, recognized some of his quality. He was suspicious, vengeful, and treacherous; Arthur I of Brittany was probably murdered in captivity, and Matilda de Braose, the wife of a recalcitrant Marcher baron, was starved to death with her son in a royal prison. But John was cultured and literate. Conventional in his religion rather than devout, he was remembered for his benefactions to the church of Coventry, to Reading Abbey, and to Worcester, where he was buried and where his effigy still survives. He was extraordinarily active, with a great love of hunting and a readiness to travel that gave him a knowledge of England matched by few other monarchs.

He was the first king of England since the Norman Conquest who could speak English. He took a personal interest in judicial and financial administration, and his reign saw important advances at the Exchequer, in the administration of justice, in the importance of the privy seal and the royal household, in methods of taxation and military organization, and in the grant of chartered privileges to towns. If his character was unreliable, his political judgment was acute. In 1215 many barons, including some of the most distinguished, fought on his side. John of England - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) (1167-1216). Vicious, shameless, and ungrateful, King John has been called the worst king ever to rule England. Yet the very excesses of his reign proved positive in that they provoked such a violent reaction that his subjects revolted and forced him to put his seal on the Magna Carta. This document became the safeguard of English liberty. John’s nickname was Lackland because at first he owned no land. Later his father, King Henry II, gave him castles, lands, and revenues in both England and France.

John plotted against his father, however, and the discovery of this conspiracy was a factor in the king’s death. John’s brother, Richard the Lion-Hearted, became king and added to John’s possessions. While Richard was absent from England on the Third Crusade, John conspired against him also. Article Contributors King John - History Learning Site King John Citation: C N Trueman "King John" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 5 Mar 2015. 20 Oct 2016. King John was born in 1167 and died in 1216. Like William I, King John is one of the more controversial monarchs of Medieval England and is most associated with the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. John was born on Christmas Eve, the youngest son of Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine. As a child, John tended to be overshadowed by is older brother Richard. Like his father, John developed a reputation for violent rages which lead to him foaming at the mouth. Henry left no land to John when he died so John was given the nick-name John Lackland.

In 1189, all of Henry’s territory went to his oldest son, Richard I, better known as Richard the Lionheart. In 1191, Richard left England to embark on the Third Crusade. He left John in charge of the country. John’s reputation as a leader had been severely dented as far back as 1185 when Henry II sent him to Ireland to rule. John proved to be a disaster and within six months he was sent home. In 1192, Richard was imprisoned by Duke Leopold of Austria as he returned from the Crusades. John tried to seize the crown from his brother but failed. In 1194, when Richard finally returned to England, John was forgiven by his brother. In 1199, Richard was killed in France and John became the king of England. His reign started in an unfortunate way. In 1202, John’s nephew, Arthur of Brittany, was murdered. Many in Brittany believed that John was responsible for his murder and they rebelled against John. In 1204, John’s army was defeated in Brittany and John had no choice but to retreat.

His military standing among the nobles fell and he was given a new nickname – John Softsword. The defeat in north France was a major blow for John and a costly one. To pay for the defeat, John increased taxes which was not popular with anybody other than John and his treasurers. John also succeeded in falling out with the pope in 1207. John quarreled with the pope over who should be Archbishop of Canterbury. The pope excommunicated John and put England under a Church law that stated that no christening or marriage would be legal until the time the pope said that they would be. Church law said that only christened people could get to Heaven while children born out of marriage were doomed to Hell. This placed people in England under a terrible strain and they blamed one person for this – John. In 1213, John had to give in and surrender the spiritual well-being of the whole country to the pope. However, the pope never fully trusted John and in 1214, the pope proclaimed that anybody who tried to overthrow John would be legally entitled to do so. In the same year, John lost another battle to the French at Bouvines.

This defeat resulted in England losing all her possessions in France. This was too much for the powerful barons in England. In 1214, they rebelled. John was forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. This guaranteed the people of England rights that the king could not go back on. In 1216, John tried to go back on the Magna Carta but this only provoked the barons into declaring war on him. By 1216, John was ill. During the war, he suffered from dysentery. He also lost all of his treasure when he tried to take a shortcut across a stretch of water in the Wash, Lincolnshire. As the tide rose faster than he expected, his baggage train was engulfed. Just a few days later, John died and was succeeded by Henry III. Despite the obvious failings of John, there is still some evidence that he was not as bad as some have tried to make him out to be since his death. It certainly was not uncommon for kings to have their names tarnished when they were not alive to defend themselves!

The picture of a monster, put forward by Roger of Wendover and Matthew Paris must be rejected forever. John had the administrative ability of a great ruler but, from the moment he began to rule, rivals and traitors tried to cheat him out of his inheritance. As he wrestled with one problem, more enemies sprang upon his back. William Stubbs written in 1873. John had potential for great success. He had intelligence, administrative ability and he was good at planning military campaigns. However, too many personality flaws held him back. R. Turner written in 1994 John was a tyrant. He was a wicked ruler who did not behave like a king. He was greedy and took as much money as he could from his people. Hell is too good for a horrible person like him. Matthew Paris, C13th chronicler BBC - History - Historic Figures: John (c.1167 - 1216) Historic Figures z John I © John was a king of England who is most famous for signing the Magna Carta. John was born around Christmas in 1166 or 1167 in Oxford, the youngest and favourite son of Henry II.

On his father's death in 1189 his brother, Richard, became king. John received titles, lands and money, but this was not enough. In October 1190, Richard recognised his nephew, Arthur, as his heir. Three years later, when Richard was imprisoned in Germany, John tried to seize control. He was unsuccessful and, when Richard returned in early 1194, was banished. The two were soon reconciled and, when Arthur was captured by Philip II in 1196, Richard named John heir. In 1199, Richard died and John became king. War with France was renewed, triggered by John's second marriage. While asked to mediate between the rival families of Lusignan and Angoulâme, he married the Angoulâme heiress Isabella, who had been betrothed to Hugh de Lusignan. A rebellion broke out and John was ordered to appear before his overlord, Philip II of France. His failure to do so resulted in war. By 1206, John had lost Normandy, Anjou, Maine and parts of Poitou.

These failures were a damaging blow to his prestige and he was determined to win them back. This required money, so his government became increasingly ruthless and efficient in its financial administration. Taxes soared and he began to exploit his feudal rights ever more harshly. This bred increasing baronial discontent. Negotiations between John and his barons failed and civil war broke out in May 1215. When the rebels seized London, John was compelled to negotiate further and, on 19 June at Runnymede on the River Thames, he accepted the baronial terms embodied in the Magna Carta, which limited royal power, ensured feudal rights and restated English law. It was the first formal document stating that the monarch was as much under the rule of law as his people, and that the rights of individuals were to be upheld even against the wishes of the sovereign. This settlement was soon rendered impractical when John claimed it was signed under duress. Pope Innocent took his side and in the ensuing civil war John laid waste to the northern counties and the Scottish border. Prince Louis of France then invaded at the barons' request.

John continued to wage war vigorously, but his death in October 1216 enabled a compromise peace and the succession of his son Henry III.

Question: Which English king was known as 'Lackland'?
Answer: KING JOHN